Goodwood – Toovey’s Blog

Best of British Feeling at 2024 Festival of Speed

Red Bull Racing celebrated on the famous Goodwood Festival of Speed Hill Climb

Red Bull Racing was celebrated at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed together with the centenary of the MG marque.

A packed weekend of displays and competition on the famous hill climb saw the McMurtry Spéirling once again lead the way with a remarkable time of 39.08 seconds driven by Max Chilton. I have never seen anything move up Goodwood’s hill as fast as the McMurtry Spéirling (the name is apparently Irish for thunderstorm). It looks like a cross between a Batmobile and a Le Mans prototype racer. The dual electric engines deliver 0-60mph in under two seconds and a top speed of 200mph. The car makes a sound like a jet engine thanks to its fans which generate 2000kg of downforce. It moved so fast it sucked hay out of the trackside bales!

Sunday saw current Formula 1 World Champion, Max Verstappen lead a host of motor racing stars up the hill in an array of Red Bull racing cars. Max looked relaxed and delighted to be at Goodwood with iconic British designer Adrian Newey on the house balcony, despite the undoubted pressures of the Formula 1 season. Red Bull Racing came into being when the energy drink manufacturer purchased the Jaguar Formula 1 team. Based in Britain it has been amongst the dominant teams in F1 winning six constructors’ titles and seven drivers’ titles in its twenty year history. It will be interesting to see how they fare once Adrian Newey leaves the team at the end of this season.

The centenary of much loved MGs marked at Goodwood

MG took centre stage celebrating their centenary as a motor manufacturer. The marque has a strong association with Goodwood and raced in period at the iconic circuit. Old met new with an iconic MK1 MGB roadster and the new Cyberstar convertible sportscar displayed on the remarkable sculpture outside Goodwood House. It provided the backdrop to the MG Celebration which saw MG’s from across the century driven to the lawns of the house as daytime fireworks filled the sky drawing applause from the crowds.

Goodwood Festival of Speed has become the British Motor Show in all but name and all the major motor manufacturers were on display including the exemplary Sussex firm Rolls Royce. The Red Arrows display added to the Best of British feeling with their extraordinary acrobatics. As the noise and spectacle of the 2024 Goodwood Festival of Speed fades to memory I am looking forward to the Goodwood Revival and offer my congratulations to the remarkable Goodwood team.

Drama and Beautiful Scenes at The 2023 Goodwood Revival

Rupert |Toovey on the Lavant straight as the heavens opened

We arrived at the 2023 Goodwood Revival and found ourselves basking in the extraordinary late Summer sunshine. Despite the un-expected weather everyone was in their Goodwood finery and once again we stepped back into the golden age of motor racing.

Over the road The Splined Hub were displaying an exquisite, restored Jaguar E-type, chassis 18.

Oliver Winbolt said “So this is the 18th ever right-hand drive coupé, October’61, so although that’s quite a bit later than the early left-hand drive cars it’s a very early right-hand drive car.”

I ask Oliver if it was made for the UK market and he replies “Yes, we bought the car in Beverley Hills in California but actually it came from Stamford in Lincolnshire originally.”

He continued “At The Splined Hub we bring low volume performance car build process into the restoration of classic Jaguars, it’s as simple as that.” There is nothing simple about these processes. Oliver explains “The restoration began with a detailed photographic record taken so that, once restored, the car would be as true and accurate to the original manufacturing intent as possible. This early body presented a challenge in terms of accuracy and originality because the early shell shares surprisingly few panels with the later ‘production’ E-types. The engine, gearbox and rear axle have been completely rebuilt using the original fixings and components where ever possible.” The interior, chassis and electrical systems have also received this attention. Oliver concluded “It’s all in the attention to detail.”

Holly, Oliver and Alison Winbolt of the Splined Hub with the chassis no.18 E-type

The lucky steward of this remarkable car will take possession of it after Oliver and his team have rigorously tested it.

Lotus, the Porsche 911 and the remarkable Carroll Shelby were all celebrated at this year’s Revival along with an extraordinary array of Ferraris.

Sunday at the Revival brought slightly cooler and changeable weather and the heavens opened before and during one of the Revival’s most prestigious and closely competed races, the Royal Automobile Club TT Celebration. It’s a one-hour, two-driver race for closed-cockpit cars like the mighty AC Cobras and Lightweight Jaguar E-types raced at Goodwood in 1963 and 1964. The wet conditions favoured the E-type with William Paul and Andy Priaulx bringing their number 78 E-type home for a well deserved win in what was an eventful race with many of these hugely powerful cars struggling for grip, even on the Lavant straight, and leaving the track.

This extraordinary celebration of period motor racing leads the world here in the heart of Sussex!

Porsche Celebrated at Goodwood

The 1970s Le Mans winning Porsche 917K at the 2023 Goodwood Festival of Speed

Goodwood, with its Festival of Speed, Revival and annual Members Meeting has become the international venue for historic motor racing and is held here in the heart of Sussex. This year Goodwood celebrates its 75th anniversary since the start of motorsport at this historic venue. It has come along way since the now Duke of Richmond and Gordon was painting the footbridge over the track late into the night the Friday before the first Festival of Speed in 1993.

Another iconic automotive brand in the form of Porsche is also celebrating its 75th anniversary and was central to this year’s Festival of Speed. The Porsche Brand began in 1948, with the Type 356. It built on Professor Ferdinand Porsche’s design work begun in the 1930s.

A Porsche 356 suspended in front of Goodwood House © Holly Winbolt/Splined Hub

The Porsche 356 was the company’s first production car. Its lightweight body, rear-engine and rear wheel drive ensured nimble handling and provided the blueprint for the later 911s and subsequent Porsches. It looked extraordinarily contemporary hanging from the central sculpture outside Goodwood House.

In the Paddock I met up with Oliver Winbolt who has had a remarkable career in automotive design at many of the world’s leading marques including McLaren. Today he and his team bring this rigour to the restoration and re-engineering of E-Type Jaguars for the modern world through his company the Splined Hub.

We watched the 1970 Le Mans 24 hour winning 917K Porsche return from the track. Oliver explained how this car gave Porsche its first overall win at Le Mans. It was entered by Ferdinand Piech’s semi-works Porsche Salzburg team and was driven by Richard (“Dickie”) Attwood and Hans Hermann.

Dickie Attwood subsequently bought the Le Mans winning Porsche and referred to it as his “pension scheme” making numerous appearances with it in subsequent years. In 2000 he cashed up his “pension scheme” selling the car for more than £1 million. Dickie Attwood has remained a strong supporter of the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Porsche had a glorious weekend of celebrations. But it was the McLaren Solus GT which won Sunday’s prestigious timed shoot out on the famous Goodwood hill. Driven by Marvin Kirchofer it was a fitting moment for McLaren as they marked their 60th anniversary.

Congratulations go to all of the Goodwood team who, despite wind and rain, pulled off another remarkable celebration of motoring and motor racing.

To learn more about Oliver Winbolt’s extraordinary work with E-Types go to www.thesplinedhub.co.uk or visit their stand at the 2023 Goodwood Revival.

Goodwood Members’ Meeting Marks the Start of the 75th Anniversary Celebrations

Rupert Toovey in the Daffodil Tent at Goodwood

2023 marks the 75th anniversary of the start of motorsport at Goodwood. At the heart of these celebrations is Goodwood’s motor circuit so it was fitting that this year’s Goodwood 75 celebrations should begin with an exceptional display of motor racing at the Members’ Meeting last weekend.

Motor racing began at Goodwood in 1948 and continued through a golden age of motorsport until 1966. It became what has been described as ‘the spiritual home of British motor racing’. During this period many of the greatest drivers of all time raced at Goodwood including Juan Manuel Fangio, Roy Salvadori, Jim Clark, Stirling Moss, Graham Hill, Phil Hill and Jackie Stewart.

In 1993 the then Lord March (now the 11th Duke of Richmond), with a group of other enthusiasts, held the first Festival of Speed with more than 100 cars and motorcycles blasting up the hill.

In September 1998 the first Goodwood Revival was held on the original circuit exactly 50 years to the day to the day after the Duke’s grandparents had first opened the circuit.

2014 saw the re-introduction of the Members’ Meeting for members of the GRRC and GRRC Fellowship who support motorsport at Goodwood.

This year’s Members’ Meeting, the 80th since motorsport began at Goodwood, started the Goodwood 75 celebrations with a stunning array of cars, motorcycles and racing held in the crisp spring sunshine.

The 1910 Fiat S76 Beast of Turin on the track at the 80th Goodwood Members’ Meeting

The SF Trophy is always popular with the crowds at Goodwood. These Edwardian racing cars and aero-engined specials from the early 20th century provide a sense of drama and occasion. Amongst the favourites at Goodwood is the Fiat S76, later also known as the Fiat 300HP Record and affectionately called ‘The Beast of Turin’. Made in 1910 its 28.4 litre engine developed 290bhp and is capable of some 130mph. It was built to break the land speed record.

Its current owner, Duncan Pittaway famously describes driving the car, which he fastidiously restored, as like “wrestling a gorilla”!

I am already looking forward to this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed and Goodwood Revival which embrace the modern and the halcyon days of motor racing with the accompanying glamour of the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s.

The GRRC Spring Members’ Meeting is always an exciting celebration of motor racing which is exclusively for GRRC and GRRC Fellowship members here in the heart of Sussex. To find out more about the benefits of membership, how to join, and to book tickets for this year’s Festival of Speed and Goodwood Revival go to www.goodwood.com/sports/motorsport.

HM The Queen’s Life Celebrated at Goodwood

Graham Hill’s Ferrari 250 GTO/64 with its pale blue nose leading a pack of remarkable Ferraris at the 2022 Goodwood Revival

Motor Racing enthusiasts gathered from across the United Kingdom and from overseas at the 2022 Goodwood Revival to find scenes reminiscent of the early part of HM Queen Elizabeth II’s reign in the 1950s and 1960s.

HM The Queen’s life was celebrated and honoured across the three days with Union Jack’s flying at half-mast around the famous race track. A short film of The Queen at Goodwood was followed by a minute’s silence across the three days – moments of reflection for all who gathered. The Goodwood staff and many who came wore black ties and armbands, queuing to sign the books of remembrance.

Through both the joys and sorrows of life whatever the Queen faced she pressed on and it was in that spirit that the Goodwood Revival community came together in reflective mood.

The Goodwood Revival remains the most iconic international Historic Motor Racing event in the calendar and we are so blessed that it is held here in the heart of Sussex.

The Stirling Moss Memorial Trophy saw Aston Martins and Ferraris challenged by AC Cobras and Jaguar E-types. British Formula 1 World Champion Jenson Button interviewed on the Friday owned that he had understandably been a little distracted by his honeymoon and hadn’t had time to practice – the tightness of line and skill with which he drove the no.22 E-type was all the more impressive.

Ferrari played a leading role in this year’s Revival with a parade for the Scuderia featuring a breath taking array of cars from this most iconic of marques, many of which also featured in the racing across the weekend.

You couldn’t fail to notice the pale blue nose and beautiful lines of Graham Hill’s Ferrari 250 GTO/64 which raced in period at Goodwood, Hill winning the TT. It was very successful in the 1960s, including at Goodwood, and has been in the same ownership since 1969. The car united the old and new traditions of motor sport at Goodwood and has raced at every Revival since the first event in 1998.

As evening drew in and the skies filled with a rich autumn light the unforgettable sound of Rolls Royce Merlin engines roared above us as three Spitfires flew in formation marking the approach of Battle of Britain Sunday.

So much of HM Queen Elizabeth II’s reign had been embodied in this remarkable motor sport event and her life celebrated and honoured.